Music for Silent Films

For many reasons, I have recently realized that scoring silent films is an incontrovertibly “good” way to spend my time. As I told the good Captain, there’s no reason not to.

The most obvious draw for me is that it would satisfy the creative itch. Any music could do that, but lately that’s not enough for me to devote the time and energy into anything. It’s a given that creating anything would be considered “being creative.” It’s the same word! But I need something more than just idle fancy, or else I’ll just abandon a project in favor of something else.

In this case, at the end of the process, I would have a tangible product to show people. To show people, not just play a mediocre recording on iTunes. To sit them down and entertain them with it. The non-musicians, those with only a slight, passing interest in what I do, would be willing to sit down and watch a movie. And even my most pretentious of academic adversaries would find no fault in the impetus, because at both universities I attended, the composers were encouraged to write for silent film. The venue offers potential for film composers and avant-garde snobs alike. Nobody can nay-say. So there’s no vainglorious reason not to do it.

I already know that the material of the film can offer tremendous potential for interesting, well-crafted music that stands on its own, so there’s no artistic reason not to do it. Unlike some of my more techno-based ideas, it would hone my chops, providing good “exercise,” so there’s no professional reason not to do it.

It doesn’t require elecroacoustic proficiency, no fancy software or sound fonts I don’t have, so there’s no technological reason not to do it. It can be (and should be) mostly acoustic, so I could write it on a restaurant napkin if I had to. And it would be relatively easy to convince a group of performers to rehearse and record for silent film, so there’s no logistical reason not to do it. I can even create a click track for them when the time comes.

I already have some silent film scoring experience under my belt at BGSU, a ten-minute piece I wrote for Man With a Movie Camera, with the New Music Ensemble. So there’s no experiential reason not to do it. I already have done it, just not an entire film by myself.

So why not? Sure, there are already several existing scores for silent films, so why bother doing something that’s already been done better by someone else? Philip Glass scored Dracula. So what? Filmmakers remake films all the time, so why not score a silent film with your own take on the subject matter? Everything has “been done” before, so that’s not a good enough reason not to. Because there will always be an audience interested in a new presentation.

Obviously not any silent film will do, however. And the Captain posed the potential problem of having different cuts and restored versions to deal with. Also, unfortunately, the DVD collection I had my eye on is hard to obtain at the moment, since Best Buy didn’t have it and Amazon says it’s out of stock.

The plan is to cast a wide net and just watch a bunch of them to discover which ones spark my ideas, cherry-picking from a huge pool of forgotten films and well-known classics alike. I already have my eye on Nosferatu, The Phantom of the Opera, Metropolis, Robin Hood, and a few others, but I’d prefer shorter films, and ones with less text to read.

For now, however, I’m completely broke and can’t just go around picking up new DVDs. But I have a sense of direction…

This is obviously a long-term, never-ending interest. I’m not even saying I’d finish a single one by 2016. I’m just saying that I know it would be worth the trouble whenever I do it. There’s no reason not to. It’s something to do. It’s something others would be interested in. It’s something nobody can take issue with. It’s something that would be satisfying and enjoyable to undertake as an artist. Why am I defending myself? I haven’t even done anything yet! Leave me alone!